Play this: Goldeneye 007 for the Wii

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Whether or not you played Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 you’ve probably heard how amazing it was. Not only was the game a solid first-person shooter, but it also had an incredible four-person multiplayer mode. The game had action, stealth, and a Bond story–you couldn’t go wrong. Now Goldeneye 007 is back, reimagined for the Wii about 13 years after the original release.

It might seem like a cheap move, to just remake something you know you will be a hit after the Wii has largely failed with FPS gaming, but you won’t find too many people complaining. This Goldeneye remake is quite good. It’s not just a good release for the Wii, it’s on of the best games to come out for the console. (And I’m not a Wii hater, I just think it’s that good.)

As you might has guessed I have a history with Goldeneye. In fact it was the game we played at the time of its release and for probably a year or so after. I didn’t own an N64, but I logged dozens of hour playing it. I’ve been trying to keep my nostalgia from clouding my judgment about the Wii game, but I can’t stop liking it that much more because of it. Nostalgia makes the graphics seem not just “good for the Wii” but so that they aren’t even a factor–duh, that’s how Goldeneye looks, I can’t help but think.

Let’s keep in mind that 007 for the Wii is inspired by the 1997 release, but it’s not a port or a re-release. The new game has the same concepts and mechanics, but has a number of significant changes from the last one. The new game features teamwork with 006, modern FPS features like iron sights, and a plot that is quite far removed from the movie this was all ostensibly based on. Plus Bond is Daniel Craig, not Pierce Brosnan. This means people who played the N64 version will constantly be jumping back and forth between recognizing old details and noticing new ones.

The multiplayer brings back the splitscreen goodness of the original. To enjoy this you’ll want to sit down with three friends and play, just like you did back in the day. It can be a genuinely fun experience thanks to a balanced multiplayer that doesn’t feel overly dated or gimmicky. Sure it’s a throwback to a simpler time in gaming, but you can hop into online multiplayer if you want something more modern. Online play is one of the best implementations on the Wii that I’ve seen, complete with 8 players at once, but it’s just not the same as having everyone in the same room.

I will say that while Goldeneye 007 is quite good, there are fundamental problems with it. For example the online multiplayer is fun, but if you put aside the Bond theme, the nostalgia factor, and the split-screen then most people would probably be happier just playing Black Ops. So while split-screen gives me something I can’t get other places and it’s great to play a refurbished version of a game I loved, time has moved on and to a certain extent so has the gaming world. So while I’m enjoying my time with Goldeneye, I didn’t need, say, a leveling system in multiplayer.

At the end of the day Goldeneye 007 for the Wii delivers a fun game that learned from its past, but isn’t weighed down by it. The developers weren’t afraid to make changes where they were necessary but they also remembered what made the original great. There are some features that are there just for nostalgia, like the classic big-head mode, but luckily Goldeneye doesn’t rely on these. It’s a tightly constructed game with good controls that can stand on its own, but it wouldn’t be the same without the original.

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This article was based on a retail version of the game provide to us by Activision.